THIS year, however, I am taking the Dad of one of my students ... who just so happens to be a doctor. His daughter is going as well to be his translator - cool, huh? But, the best time for them to go was the first week in June, so, June 4-13, we will be in Peru. That means, for the FIRST time since being at UGA, it is May, we are on summer hours, Athens is slowing down and I am HERE. And you know what, I am loving it. I am reconnecting with friends, taking my time getting ready for Peru, finishing up end of the year stuff, hanging out with students and RESTING! What a novel idea ... yep, I LOVE, LOVE summer. Now, it kind of scares me to see how few days I have left of said "summer" once Peru is over. But for now, I am living the life.
Some things I LOVE about summer:
1. Reading. Might just have read 2 1/2 books in the last week. The Help, quite possibly one of the top 5 books. ever. The Faraday Girls (a Callie book that was really good) and Radical. I love being able to read ... for pleasure and to have the time to enjoy it!
2. Shorter days. In the summer, our official hours are 9 am - 3 pm. But we also don't have weekend stuff, night stuff, really don't have much "stuff" period. So, I get up, go for a run, go to work, hang out with people when they're around, get a few things done and go home. I even cleaned off my desk one day. There's not much "frantic" ... and whatever I DON'T get done, I just walk away from ... until the next day.
3. TIME. I can spend time with friends ... even on a "school" night .. YIPPEE!!! I went to lunch with a student yesterday. Granted it was a "late" lunch, but when we got up to leave, it was a quarter til 4. And it was ok because neither of us was rushing to something else. Today, I sat at a coffee house for a couple of hours with a girl talking about our adventures in missions and then went to lunch with one of my sweet nurse girls ... and talked and laughed ... and didn't have any "work" to do ... just enjoyed it.
4. POOL time!! Last summer I joined the Y so I could lounge by the pool in the afternoons ... THIS year, given the few weeks I am in Athens post-May and the expense (and reading Radical ... I mean, I can support my little Zambia cutie for the price of a montly Y fee) ... I didn't join, but am on the hunt for pool opportunities, lake opportunities ... and will even make sure I mow in the heat of the day to get that "healthy glow" ... ahhhhhh ...
5. SONIC happy hour. Ok. Not just a summer thing. But a Diet Strawberry Limeade ... and going home in time for happy hour! ALMOST as good as a pool!!
6. Going home. Don't get to do enough of that ... "home" in Arkansas ... and "home" in Winder are both a wonderful blessing!
7. Mission trip!! I LOVE, LOVE being able to do medical missions. I've been blessed with the opportunity to take some incredible students and to go to some amazing places and to see God to some incredible things. Those are summer memories that are irreplacable. As much work as it is to prepare and as exhausting as it is, I can't imagine NOT going. Of course, after the summer I let two in a month, I also can't imagine ever doing TWO trips in a summer again, either!
8. Catching up. The past few winters I've managed to pull off some house projects ... a room redo or a paint project. This year, for some reason, I didn't. Summer is always a wonderful time to get some "house" stuff done. Last summer I took off a whole week and redid my home office, got my carpets cleaned, got some much needed repairs done. This summer ... my plan is to clean out the dreaded garage ... probably NOT a good summer project, but badly needed ... and to purge "stuff" from closets and drawers.
9. Restoring good habits. Summer is such a nicer pace ... so much easier to get back into the swing of exercise and so much more fun to eat healthy when you have fresh fruit and veggies and a hot grill calling your name. Ready to get rid of those extra pounds and get back to my WW goal weight, to work on running "faster" (something I've been wanting to do), and just to get back into the habit of doing it most days. Plus, there's more time for Bible study and reading those books that have been collecting dust on the shelves around my office all year!
10. Making good on lunch dates, weekend trips, talking to friends, meeting up, hanging out and catching up. I feel like in campus ministry our entire personal life is on hold for the najority of the nine months school is in ... at least it is a slave to college life. Ready to reclaim a portion of that! Starting ... now.
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